Through the heart of the Flemish Ardennes

We immediately start with one of the most beautiful panoramas in the Flemish Ardennes at the terraced viewpoint at the top of the slope 't Bosgat. Cyclists know this climb as Kaperij, after the street of the same name. Along the Maarkebeek, we descend through the Ter Rijst forest and then climb to the Hoppeberg, or La Houppe. The walk then goes through the beautiful Brakelbos, which in springtime gets a stunning blue carpet when the bluebell - the blue sock - blooms massively. Then, we proceed via the language border to Mullenskasteel. You now walk on the "ice cellar road", a bumpy cobblestone strip and dirt road, named after the ice cellar that was dug there in the nineteenth century. This path leads downhill to the Wolfskerkebeek or Vaanbuikbeek, one of the sources of the Zwalm. You now enter the nature reserve Burreken, one of the natural gems of the Flemish Ardennes. At junction 15, the walk goes left, but those who want can turn right to junction 14 for a visit to the chapel of the Ronde, which has been fully dedicated to Flanders’ Most Beautiful since 2011. To the right, the names of all the winners are carved in granite, while to the left is a drawing of a Flandrien, modeled after the local cycling hero Peter van Petegem. The walk continues with the ascent of the Foreest. At the top of the Foreest and the Ganzenberg, the route now goes via the Omer Wattezstraat - the writer who, according to tradition, came up with the name ‘Flemish Ardennes’ - and back through the fields to the starting point.